The journey back was quiet, but the atmosphere wasn't as tense this time. Stephen chose not to join in Wanda and Scott's quiet conversation, and let them chat amongst themselves. Safe to say, this journey was a lot more pleasant than the last one – though mostly because he got to have his co-pilot chair back after minimal begging. Scott had been visibly jealous.

"We'll be back in about five minutes," Loki said, breaking the silence after about half an hour. "So how are we getting back to Midgard? Teleportation or Strange making magic sparkly portals?"

Stephen didn't think he noticed the glare.

"Can't you fly directly into Earth?" Scott asked, obviously disappointed about having to leave space so soon. (Soon? How long had they been there? Half a day maybe?) "If you need a place to park, you can use my backyard."

Loki raised an eyebrow. "You think this ship will fit on your backyard, then you're pretty deluded. And I can't fly into Midgard, do you realise how much crap is floating around your planet? I'm surprised Thanos could even get through."

"Oh," Scott said. Then he sighed. "Well, in that case, I vote portal. My head has been tortured enough today."

"I second that," Wanda said, holding up her hand.

"I third that," Stephen said, also holding up his hand.

Loki shrugged. "Alright then." Then he jerked the steering handles over and the ship lurched, doing a sudden series of barrel rolls, and then steadying out again.

Stephen relaxed the grip he hadn't realised he'd had on the sides of the chair he was sitting on. Slowly, he turned his head to face Loki. "What the hell was that?" he demanded.

"Well, I'm sorry, I forgot how mind-numbingly boring it was flying in a straight line for ages without being chased by space jerks, and I had to do something to relieve my boredom," Loki said. "You aren't dying are you?"

"No, but a warning might have been nice," Stephen sighed, already giving up. It was Loki. Loki didn't do warnings.

They returned the ship to the storage bunker with no problems, unless you counted Loki having to physically drag Scott by the wrist out of the ship because he loved it too much to want to leave. He had to bargain a ride in the future with Scott as co-pilot to get him to leave in the end.

When Loki locked the door to T15, Stephen readied himself to make a portal, asking where to. But both Wanda and Loki winced in unison and put a hand to their heads, exchanging a glance. "What's up?" Stephen asked, as his mood dropped suddenly. He didn't like this. Why couldn't something just go smoothly for once?

Wanda looked on the verge of tears again, and with a very strained voice, she replied, "Just get back to my house, please. I... need some time alone for a second..."

Stephen didn't hesitate, and the second the portal was wide enough to get through, Wanda ran through, opening the front door and shutting it behind her before they'd even thought about stepping through. What was up with her?

"Is she OK?" Scott asked, the moment Stephen closed the portal behind them, eyes flitting between Stephen and Loki, as though he felt like he was missing something.

"No," Loki replied, shaking his head. He was clearly trying to cover up some strain in his voice too.

Scott waited five seconds for elaboration, then prompted, "Well, what's up?"

"I'll explain in a minute, just let me get myself back together for a second," Loki said, dropping down onto the chair on the front porch. Scott and Stephen exchanged a glance and then sat on the bench next to him.

"It's the Darkhold, isn't it?" Stephen kinda-guessed-kinda-knew-but-said-in-a-way-that-sounded-like-he-was-guessing. "That mind link thing? That's why it's affecting you both?"

Loki jerked his head in what might have been a nod, though Stephen couldn't really tell because he was covering his face with his hands. When he pulled them away, the tension in his face was literally visible. "Yeah. It was just a sudden shock. It would've hit Wanda much harder."

"What's it like having something else in your head?" Scott asked, genuinely curious.

"It's just like any regular telepathic thing, only I don't have access to the other side's thoughts, seeing as it's, you know, a book," Loki shrugged.

"What's that like then? I'm no expert in regular telepathic things," Scott continued.

"Like... another voice in your head. Alongside your own," Loki explained.

"I'd be a terrible telepath then," Scott said, shrugging. "I have so many internal wars with just myself, never mind other voices too."

"That's part of the reason I'm not entirely sane," Loki said, frankly. Well, that was to be understood. He winced again, though not as bad as earlier, hand instinctively going to his forehead. "Internal war just about sums it up though."

"Your mind must be one messed up place," Stephen said, rather more bluntly than he'd intended. "No offence or anything."

"No offence taken, you're right," Loki admitted. "Wanda's not far behind. Still got a way to go before she reaches this level of messed up, but let's just hope she doesn't get there."

"How is she?" Stephen asked.

The god took a long time to respond. He looked away from the floor (which he'd previously been looking at) towards the scenery (the weather was currently sunshine and blue sky even though it was freezing). "Just about coping."

Well that was promising.

Then a thought hit him. "Wait, she's alone in there. She's not going to start using dark magic again, is she?"

"I don't think it would make a difference if we were there or not," Loki pointed out, which was a very good point. "And I don't think she will. But she needs to do something about it soon, because she can't keep living like this."

"Why don't you tell her that?" Stephen suggested, earning himself a look as though Loki was asking if he was an idiot.

"You think I haven't?" Well, duh. They were in each others' frigging minds. "Right now, I think she just needs a bit of quiet time while she gets herself back together. That's her preferred way of getting over stuff."

Stephen nodded, but Scott asked, "Do you want some quiet time too? If you're also dealing with the Darkhold?" That immediately made him feel bad because Stephen hadn't even thought about him. Loki just came across as so unfazed and devil-may-care all the time he sometimes forgot he actually had feelings. Stephen decided from then on that he would make more of an effort to check in with Loki.

If he could pretend to be overprotective over him, he could at least return the favour.

Surprisingly, in response to Scott's question, Loki actually shook his head. "No. Don't stop talking. This'll ruin my respekt på gata, but... actually I like to talk to people when my mind is elsewhere. It provides a distraction and keeps me grounded, y'know?"

"Aw, we're a good distraction?" Scott asked, smiling and fluttering his eyelashes. "You hear that, Stephen? He'd be lost without us."

"Aw, how nice," Stephen grinned, also joining in with the eyelash fluttering (of which he was a lot worse at than Scott). "I really feel a strong connection with you guys. I think its... the love we share."

"Oh gods, ha nåde," Loki muttered to himself, putting a palm to his forehead, his hand coating over with ice as he did so, to cool him down, but there was a barely detectable half-smile on his face. "You guys are merkelig, you know that, right?"

"I'm going to presume you said we were the best," Stephen winked, with truly no idea what he was talking about. "Think you could stick to one language for now?"

Then, to take the piss, Loki started rattling off in his weird Asgardian language, with no English. Scott laughed at Stephen's reaction – confused blinking followed by an eyeroll.

"Hilarious," Stephen sighed.

"What was it you said earlier?" Scott asked, to Loki. "Something like respect, par and gotta?"

"Respekt på gata," Loki repeated.

"Right, that, I'm going to try to figure it out. Y'know, while Wanda's sorting herself out," Scott said, then narrowed his eyes and went into Evaluation Mode. "First word sounds like respect. Gata... that sounds like cat in Spanish. So putting the two together-" He double-taked. "Respect of the cat?"

Loki blinked at him. Stephen, who had no clue, thought this was a good a guess as any. But Loki had to hold back his laughter. "Um, how do I break it to you that you're wrong?"

"Dammit. Really thought I was onto something," Scott tutted, shaking his head. "What does it mean?"

"Street cred."

Scott shrugged. "I was close enough."

Just then, Wanda came back outside to join them, her eyes slightly red, but her face was set determinedly. Their conversation ended, but Wanda wasn't in a rush to speak. Avoiding their eyes, she walked over to the porch railing and perched on it, swinging her feet awkwardly.

"Sorry about that," she said, eventually. "Stupid dark magic deciding to randomly pounce again. You're OK?"

This last part was directed at Loki, who nodded. "We've been having a language lesson."

Wanda nodded absently. Then she said something in Sokovian, something like, "Ty skazal im, chto ya dumal?"

Loki shook his head, but Stephen didn't even realise it was a question. Since he was such a smart arse, he replied something like, "Net, ty khochesh'?"

Wanda nodded, before turning back towards Stephen and Scott. (Stephen was seriously going to start learning Sokovian and Asgardian one of these days. He just hoped Scott wasn't hiding a secret first language too.) Switching back to English, she said, "I had a little think when I was in there, and I've decided something. I'm not letting the Darkhold dictate my life anymore. Or that prophecy. I'm prophesised to be one of the most powerful beings in the universe, and maybe that is so. Well, if that's the case, this super powerful being has decided she's taking control of that prophecy, and she's going to do everything in her power to help others, not rule, and certainly not destroy. The Scarlet Witch is going to be who I want her to be."

"That's great!" Stephen enthused. Well, it was great, after all, because she sounded so confident he believed her thoroughly. Then a glimmer of doubt flickered up inside his brain. Because it always did. "But... it's not that easy, right? You'll always have it nagging at the back of your mind, won't you?"

Wanda looked straight into his eyes, and somehow he knew what she was going to say before she said it.

"That's exactly why I'm going to destroy it."